Pages

Monday, January 11, 2010

After Starbucks discontinued its gluten-free Orange Valencia Cake last year less than three months after introducing it in U.S. stores, many in the gluten-free community expressed disappointment at not having a pastry option. The coffee purveyor has since offered KIND snack bars as a gluten-free selection.

Starbucks is now set to expand its selection of healthier snack options. Beginning tomorrow in participating U.S. stores, customers will find additional choices with 220 calories or less per serving, many of which are gluten free. In addition to the KIND bars, the safe products include:

Lucy’s Cookies: Available in Chocolate Chip, Sugar and Cinnamon, these cookies also are free of dairy, eggs, casein and nuts ($1.50 for Grab & Go Packs and $5.95 per box)

FoodShouldTasteGood: Available in Multigrain and Sweet Potato, the all-natural chips are made primarily of corn ($1.50 per bag)

Sahale Snacks: Nut blends and glazed nuts available in Pomegranate Cashew and Soledad Almond varieties; it's not yet known whether a third offering, a Chipotle/Ranch Almond blend, is gluten-free, as it is a new-to-market Starbucks exclusive ($2.50 per package)

I called Starbucks this summer and they said that none of their coffee drinks ie. the ones they make fresh are gf, because of contamination. If I can't have a Latte or even a coffee there, it doesn't make sense to go. The Valencia cakes were so fabulous.

Boring. I can decide if I want to be so healthy, or if I just want a treat. They took any possibility of having a decadent treat away. Why do gluten-free folks have to be so healthy? Are they taking away all the regular pastries too?

Why so negative? I think this is a great move. I was at a bookshop Starbucks today and was happy to get a bottled iced tea and a Kind bar; I'd have been even happier tomorrow to have a GF chocolate chip cookie or Sahale mix. So what if they're not made fresh. It would probably be cost-prohibitive for the company to create a specialized line of GF products, prepared in a GF kitchen, "on the off chance" that enough people would buy them. This is a nice gesture, and a step in the right direction.

(And I don't see how cookies, corn chips, or sugary nut mixes are all that "healthy". Perhaps the latter two aren't as "decadent" as a lump of oversweetened poundcake, but still, not really health food either. I think it sounds like a nice variety of GF options -- though I wouldn't complain if they wanted to come out with a GF lemon bar someday, those were good!)

Let's not be so narcissistic as to think the whole world should revolve around us just because we have health problems; let's instead be thankful that a large company is trying to accommodate our needs alongside those of their "traditional" consumers. The more companies we can encourage to do this -- and the more GF customers consume these packaged products -- the better the chances that fresh-baked GF products will eventually land on the shelves.

Otherwise, go out and find your nearest GF baker, and help keep them in business. They need your support too.

Thank you to above for the positive remarks. More celiacs need to be positive. It is a great move that Starbucks is making and will be greatly appreciated, especially at airports, where it will be nice to know that I can get something to go with my latte that isnt all squashed in the bottom of my carryon after going through security. It is our job to support these businesses and to educate the food industry about dealing with a large population with food intolerances, whether it be GF or other issues. And with these options, the general public can learn that GF food is actually good and they will purchase it, causing the companies to offer more options.

When is somebody gonna notice that up to 40% of celiacs have negative reactions to SOY and stop putting soy flour/soy milk in so many GF products?! (per study done by a major university medical center, can't recall the name at this moment) Lucy's cookies also contain oats, and many celiacs choose not to eat oats, even ones that claim to be gluten-free. So I don't really see the addition of those cookies as an informed step toward the celiac market at all.

I stopped in at a starbucks in langhorne, pa today, and they have a nice display with the "healthy" products out as you walk in. I had the choco chip cookies, and they are a very light, crispy cookie, but yum. Perfect with my cup of green tea.

Actually - the DNA in cassien, the protein in dairy, is so similar to gluten, that my doctor has recommended staying away from it as much as possible. He DID recommend soy as long as it had "Gluten Free" on the label. Starbucks DOES have gluten free soy milk, even the vanilla flavored. I emailed to ask.

I was happy to see that the new gf products were in Canadian Starbucks' as well! We never got any gf pastries up here, so I wasn't expecting the new products. I've had the chocolate chip cookies, the torilla chips and the dried cherries, all good. It's nice to be able to pick up something to snack on with your drink and I think it's a good step in the right direction. Part of me has a feeling that all these people who are going "gluten free for weightloss" (ie. people without Celiac or wheat intolerances) are going to drive up the demand for gf goods (as long as the gf "trend" continues), so I guess that will help retailers and cafes bring in more gf products. A good thing.

When will StarBuck offer fresh Gluten Free pastries or cookies for their customers. They would be able to sell more of the fresh products from local vendors. Like all stores they are thinking of their bottom line and not the requests of their customers

I've been disappointed that most of the Gluten Free fresh pastry products at pastry shops end up being discontinued. There was a gf restaurant that had a nice gf bakery we use to go to but they had to shut it down because they weren't making enough profit. I think most places have to look at the bottom dollar because of the economy. Fortunately, I have my own gf pastry chef-my hubby,

I don't understand why Starbucks can't make a delicious gluten free option that EVERYONE would be happy to eat, like a mini flourless chocolate cake? I LOVE that Starbucks is trying but it's not like their donuts, bagels, and crumb cakes are healthy so why do they keep thinking we want healthy options?

I think this is a fantastic development. Even if I didn't have Celiacs, I'd still be thrilled that there are now some less-processed, lower-calorie food options at Starbucks.

Most days (save for birthdays and weddings), I view this disease as an opportunity to cleanse my diet of food choices that are usually pretty poor anyway. It's easy to stay positive that way, and easy to appreciate these sorts of encouraging developments.

The cinnamon Lucy's cookies taste like FRIED CHICKEN! My entire family tried them and we couldn't believe it... FRIED CHICKEN! We promptly threw them out.

While I applaud Starbucks for trying, I agree with an earlier post. Why must all "gluten free" offerings be so HEALTHY? Just like other people, I sometimes yearn to have a danish or a cupcake with my coffee... or a cookie that doesn't takes like FRIED CHICKEN ;-)

There are so many GF companies out there that make tasty cookies and treats (Katz; Pamela's; Kinninick)... I remain hopeful that Starbucks finally partners with one that can provide a few decadent and delicious options for us too!!

I am a barista at Starbucks and it is never frowned upon to bring in a pastry from outside the store. Plus, most of the pastries offered have more calories than a Big Mac (eek). I am not gluten-free, but came on here to learn more about what we have to offer at my store. There are so many new pastries offered every day...the more complaints to the website about the valencia cakes, the more they'll take notice. Hope this helps!!!